el salvadorhttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/taxonomy/term/2403/all
enLatin American churches support peace processes in El Salvadorhttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/17110
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<p>The Latin American Council of Churches has expressed support for a peace process that has resulted in a truce between armed gangs in El Salvador.</p>
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<p>The Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI), meeting recently, has expressed its support of the peace process that has resulted in a truce between armed gangs in El Salvador.</p>
<p>The CLAI's Mesoamerica Regional Consultation was held in preparation for the VI General Assembly to take place in Havana in February, 2013, reports the Latin America and Caribbean Communication Agency (ALC).</p>
<p>The council also recognised the mediating roles in the peace process of Roman Catholic Bishop Fabio Colindres, Chaplain to the Armed Forces, and Raul Mijango, former Salvadoran guerrilla commander.</p>
<p>Representatives of the CLAI member churches of Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, took part in meetings with Colindres and Mijango in the Episcopal Anglican Church of St. John Evangelist.</p>
<p>They were learning more about the process of the truce which they believe might also work in the countries of the region where similar histories of violence are being experienced.</p>
<p>In an official statement entitled "From Violence to Dialogue in El Salvador," CLAI pointed out the great importance of this truce process in El Salvador. The peace has so far lasted for six months, yet governmental institutions need to modify conditions of poverty and exclusion that have contributed to ongoing violence, ALC reports.</p>
<p>According to the CLAI statement, "The situation is made even worse within the prisons as a result of inhuman conditions."</p>
<p>El Salvador is considered to be one of the most violent countries in the world. In 1992, a peace agreement was signed between the government and the guerilla forces, bringing to an end a 12-year civil war in which more than 75,000 persons died. However, the presence of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio18 gangs during the last two decades in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, has put life in jeopardy.</p>
<p>"We call on all the churches to join this initiative and creatively and courageously propose, with faith in the help of God, this process that is just beginning. We ask of the international community that it be guarantors of this vital process for the Salvadorans and for the Mesoamerican Region," said the CLAI.</p>
<p>The statement also expressed the pastoral solidarity of CLAI with the families that are victims of the violence in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, and added that it will declare a day of prayer for the peace process.</p>
<p>[With acknowledgements to ENInews. <a href="http://www.eni.ch/">ENInews</a>, formerly Ecumenical News International, is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the Conference of European Churches.]</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Peace and WarNews Briefel salvadorgang culturegangspeace processpeacemakersWorld NewsFri, 05 Oct 2012 22:06:07 +0000ENInews17110 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukBritish-based Romero Trust wins Salvadorean honourhttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15725
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<p>El Salvador has bestowed the first 'Amigo de El Salvador' award on the London-based Archbishop Romero Trust, which vigorously advocates social justice.</p>
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<p>El Salvador has bestowed the first 'Amigo de El Salvador' award on the London-based Archbishop Romero Trust, which celebrates the legacy of human rights advocate Archbishop Oscar Romero.</p>
<p>On 11 November 2011 Hugo Martinez, El Salvador's minister for foreign affairs, presented a gold medallion at a London reception to the trust chair, Julian Filochowski, and said the award was in honour of the trust's stalwart work.</p>
<p>Founded in 2007, the trust promotes knowledge and awareness of Romero's life and work, organises an annual lecture and supports human rights and social justice initiatives in Latin America, according to its website.</p>
<p>The new award will be bestowed on foreign nationals that have contributed to the wellbeing of Salvadoreans abroad and in their country. The awards reception was hosted by El Salvador's ambassador to Britain and was attended by Brazilian, Chilean and Argentinian ambassadors.</p>
<p>Romero, who was Roman Catholic, spoke out against repression during El Salvador's 12-year civil war in which at least 75,000 people died. He was murdered while saying Mass on 24 March 1980. </p>
<p>US President Barack Obama last May visited his burial site in the cathedral of San Salvador.</p>
<p>The trust's patrons include Catholic and Anglican clergy in Britain, including Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams. The feast day for Romero and the martyrs of El Salvador is 24 March.</p>
<p>* Romero Trust: <a href="http://www.romerotrust.org.uk/" title="www.romerotrust.org.uk/">www.romerotrust.org.uk/</a></p>
<p>[With acknowledgements to ENInews. <a href="http://www.eni.ch/">ENInews</a>, formerly Ecumenical News International, is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the Conference of European Churches.]</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->People and PowerReligion and SocietyNews Briefel salvadoroscar romeroromeroromero trustUK NewsTue, 15 Nov 2011 23:40:48 +0000ENInews15725 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukBritish youth volunteers arrive in El Salvadorhttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15096
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<p>Ten British young people have arrived in El Salvador to take part in a new faith-supported volunteering scheme offered by the agency Progressio.</p>
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<p>Ten British young people have arrived in El Salvador to take part in a new faith-supported volunteering scheme offered by the agency Progressio. </p>
<p>ICS Empower is part of International Citizen Service (ICS), a UK government funded volunteering opportunity for young people aged 18-22 and for people over 22 with skills.</p>
<p>Lily Bland, aged 18, from Bristol, wrote home saying: "After a five am wake up call, two long plane journeys and an armed police escorted coach ride - I'm here in Suchitoto, El Salvador!"</p>
<p>Over the next 10 weeks, she and the rest of the team will work with local Salvadoreans on a variety of environmental and community health projects and will gain an understanding of life for ordinary people in El Salvador, one of the world's most unequal countries. </p>
<p>Despite the tropical heat that "felt like a sauna" as the volunteers stepped off the plane, this is no holiday and volunteers will be busy, as Lily describes: "The meeting with all the partners and Progressio family over lunch today felt very welcoming, despite the language barrier. I found out my projects include; working in a bakery for a week near Santa Ana, working on ecological projects, making bird food, cleaning and painting a health clinic, shadowing a female medical team, working with teenage mums near Suchitoto and doing sexual health awareness-raising."</p>
<p>The experience promises to be challenging, inspiring and an authentic insight into Progressio's work overseas. The scheme includes intensive training that will equip participants with new knowledge and skills to inform further social action in the UK once their placement overseas is over.</p>
<p>"I'm looking forward to the experiences, though I can recognise the challenges ahead. We discovered that next weekend we're staying with a host family in a mountain community so I'm hoping my four hours a day of Spanish that we're doing this week will come in handy", says Lily.</p>
<p>The volunteers, who themselves come from a variety of belief backgrounds, will also have the opportunity to reflect on how people of different faiths can work together for social justice.</p>
<p>A total of 34 ICS Empower volunteers travelled this weekend as the scheme also hosts placements in Malawi and Peru.</p>
<p>Dion Corbett, aged 19, from Dumfries, will be blogging about her experiences in Peru. On her departure she wrote, "This unique opportunity will allow me to meet other British volunteers as well as many Peruvians and work alongside established programmes. People powered development. That is the aim and I hope to help empower the local community through the education of children in schools right through to promoting environmental awareness in this desert area."</p>
<p>* For more information on how the ICS Empower volunteers are getting on over the next few months or apply to volunteer for placements in January 2012 via: <a href="http://www.progressio.org.uk/empower" title="www.progressio.org.uk/empower">www.progressio.org.uk/empower</a>.</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Globalisation and DevelopmentPeople and PowerNews BriefCentral Americael salvadorempowermentProgressiovolunteeeringvolunteersWorld NewsThu, 14 Jul 2011 08:32:50 +0000staff writers15096 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukEl Salvador told to protect journalists after death threatshttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/14746
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<p>El Salvador must take immediate action to protect journalists who fear for their lives after receiving a series of death threats, says Amnesty.</p>
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<p>Authorities in El Salvador must take immediate action to protect journalists who fear for their lives after receiving a series of death threats, Amnesty International has said.</p>
<p>From 30 April to 4 May 2011, staff members at Radio Victoria, a community radio station committed to social and human rights reporting in Cabanas region north-east of the capital San Salvador, told Amnesty International they received repeated death threats claiming to come from a “death squad.”</p>
<p>“It’s unacceptable for El Salvador to stand by while members of the media receive threats intended to silence them,” said Guadalupe Marengo, Amnesty's Americas Deputy Director.</p>
<p>“The Salvadoran authorities must immediately provide protection to the staff and launch an independent, thorough and impartial investigation into these repeated threats and bring those responsible to justice,” added Marengo.</p>
<p>A letter delivered to Radio Victoria at early on the morning of 30 April threatened the lives of journalists Pablo Ayala and Manuel Navarte if they failed to stop broadcasting and leave the area within three days. The author of the letter claimed to have photographs and video of the two journalists.</p>
<p>On 2 May, Pablo Ayala and Marixela Ramos, a news producer at Radio Victoria, received several text messages threatening them. </p>
<p>Several hours after Radio Victoria staff held a press conference about the intimidation in San Salvador on 4 May, they received additional threatening text messages.</p>
<p>In 2009 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called on the authorities to ensure the safety of the staff at Radio Victoria.</p>
<p>Staff at Radio Victoria previously received threats in December 2009, and since then there have been several attacks and death threats against human rights defenders and media workers in Cabañas region.</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Crime and JusticeLife and DeathPeople and PowerNews Briefcivil rightsel salvadorfreedom of expressionjournalismmediamedia assaultsWorld NewsWed, 11 May 2011 23:06:16 +0000agency reporter14746 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukEl Salvador bishop says US fuel project will hit the poorhttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/5095
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<p>El Salvador's struggling families will lose out if an alternative fuel project goes ahead, says a Lutheran bishop. The US should not solve its environmental problems on the backs of poor countries, he suggests.</p>
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<p>A Lutheran bishop in El Salvador has spoken out against a proposal for the Central American country to host a pilot project to produce ethanol fuel from sugar cane and yellow maize due to escalating oil prices – writes Rafael Menjívar Saavedra (ALC). </p>
<p>"Since corn and sugar cane are the raw materials for the producing of ethanol for fuel in the country, we are opposed to it because its negative impact on the family economy will be greater than the benefits that it could bring about," said Bishop Medardo Gómez of the Salvadoran Lutheran Synod. </p>
<p>Following the visit of US President George W. Bush to Brazil, Central America and Mexico in March, El Salvador's government has proposed that it be the host country for a pilot project to produce ethanol from sugar cane and yellow corn. </p>
<p>Ethanol is growing in importance as an alternative to oil for cars and other vehicles that have traditionally used fossil fuels. </p>
<p>However, even though the crisis of the increase in gasoline prices, now around US$3.50 a gallon (3.78 litres), is affecting the Salvador economy, the proposal is facing strong opposition from some quarters. </p>
<p>El Salvador's foreign minister, Francisco Laínez, said a cooperation agreement had been reached between his country and the United States and Brazil for the development of bio fuels. </p>
<p>The ALC news agency said that according to Laínez, both Brazil and the United States will be sending technical assistance and providing training during April in preparation for the installation of the plant. </p>
<p>"Given that El Salvador is a small country, poor and deforested, we no not understand how the government has committed itself to carrying forward measures that beforehand are known to be damaging for the country," stated Bishop Gómez. He noted: "We are opposed to the developed countries continuing to tell us what to do and that as a country we not have a plan as a nation to guide us."</p>
<p>[With grateful acknowledgements to ENI. <a href="http://www.eni.ch/">Ecumenical News International</a> is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Conference of European Churches]</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Globalisation and DevelopmentPeople and PowerNews Briefel salvadorethanolfossil fuelfuellutheranoil pricespoor familiesWorld NewsThu, 19 Apr 2007 08:49:59 +0000Ecumenical News International5095 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukRadical Archbishop continues to inspire says aid agencyhttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/4920
<!-- google_ad_section_start --><div class="image-attach-teaser image-attach-node-4919" style="width: 200px;"><a href="/node/4920"><img src="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/sites/ekklesia.co.uk/files/files/images/oscar_romero.thumbnail.jpg" alt="Oscar Romero" title="Oscar Romero" class="image image-thumbnail " width="200" height="150" /></a></div>
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<p>Archbishop Oscar Romero’s words and deeds continue to inspire, 27 years after his assassination, a Catholic agency has said.</p>
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<p>Archbishop Oscar Romero’s words and deeds continue to inspire, 27 years after his assassination, a Catholic agency has said.</p>
<p>Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, was shot and killed while celebrating Mass in a chapel near his cathedral on 24 March 1980 after becoming an outspoken critic of human rights abuses in his country.</p>
<p>Speaking ahead of the anniversary of his death, Bishop Gregorio Rosa-Chavez of El Salvador and President of Caritas Latin America and the Caribbean said that Caritas organisations everywhere look to Romero as they seek to build a world where dehumanising poverty and injustice are no more and where the rights of all people are respected. </p>
<p>Caritas Internationalis is a confederation of 162 Catholic relief, development, and social service organisations present in 200 countries and territories.</p>
<p>Bishop Rosa-Chavez said: “Oscar Romero is the one person who has inspired the work of Caritas the most. He was an inspiration to the poor throughout the world. His teachings are so rich that you can always find new insights that support our work.”</p>
<p>He continued: “There are always dangers of speaking out, but someone has to do it, someone has to raise a voice.”</p>
<p>El Salvador was in the grips of an oppressive and brutal regime when Romero was appointed Archbishop of San Salvador in 1977. Although not initially outspoken in his new role, he began challenging the status quo soon after his friend Fr Rutilio Grande was murdered for criticising human rights abuses in the country and supporting the rights of farmers and peasants.</p>
<p>From that point on until his murder, Romero became a staunch advocate for the rights of the people of El Salvador, especially the poor and the excluded, speaking out in his sermons against poverty and social injustice and pleading with the authorities in his country to stop the torture, kidnappings, murder, and repression.</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Globalisation and DevelopmentNews Briefarchbishop of san salvadorcaritasel salvadoroscar romerosan salvadorWorld NewsThu, 22 Mar 2007 12:26:21 +0000staff writers4920 at http://www.ekklesia.co.uk